Parliament is set to debate a petition - signed by more than 430,000 people so far - for an early general election. The petition is gathering momentum after a turbulent week for Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Petitions that attract more than 100,000 signatures are considered by Parliament so the topic will now be debated by MPs. The Independent reports that the petition was created in advance of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget on Friday, which resulted in the pound plummeting to a record low against the dollar and later sparked rare interventions from the IMF and Bank of England.
“The chaos engulfing the UK Government is unprecedented,” petition organiser Darrin Charlesworth said. “War rages in Ukraine; the Northern Ireland Protocol has further damaged our relationship with Europe; recession looms; the UK itself may cease to exist as Scotland seeks independence. This is the greatest set of challenges we have seen in our lifetimes."
He added that it should be up to the public to decide “who leads us through this turmoil”.
Ms Truss conceded during an interview with Laura Kuenssberg that she should have “laid the ground” better ahead of the mini-budget that prompted turmoil in the markets. She told the BBC: “I’m afraid there is an issue that interest rates are going up around the world and we do have to face that. But I do want to say to people I understand their worries about what has happened this week."
She insisted that she stands by the package of measures set out by the Chancellor and the speed with which it was announced. But acknowledging her mistakes, she said: “I do accept we should have laid the ground better… I have learned from that and I will make sure that in future we do a better job of laying the ground.”
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